Gulf council to unify members' militaries under a single command structure

By CNN Staff

Updated 6:47 AM ET, Wed December 26, 2012

Story highlights

The announcement comes at the conclusion of a summit in Bahrain

It comes at a time of heightened tensions with Iran

The plan is in a preliminary stage

The Gulf Cooperation Council will fold the military of its member states under a single command structure, Bahrain's foreign minister announced Tuesday, the state-run Bahrain News Agency reported.

The announcement came at the end of a GCC summit at a time of heightened tensions with Iran.

Foreign Minister Khalid Al-Khalifa told reporters in the capital city of Manama that the council's command would bring together "the Peninsula Shield Forces as well as the air and naval forces" of member states in the oil-rich region, BNA reported.

"It is an entity that will bring all efforts together under one umbrella," he said.

Three representatives of each of the six GCC member states have been working on a team since last year to map out the command structure, which Al-Kalifa said was in a preliminary stage.